Souths on cloud nine after rampant display

Souths United recorded an emphatic 9-0 victory over Gold Coast City on Sunday night in front of a healthy crowd at Wakerley Park.

The opening twenty minutes of the affair was mainly played in the middle of the park but City were dealt a huge blow when Stephanie Foreman came off worse in a bad collision that forced Gold Coast into an early substitution.

In a dour first half, neither team could find an opening into the game despite Souths having nine shots on goal but there was never any real danger for City’s goal keeper Sarah Beth McDonald.

Souths came out of the blocks firing at the start of the second stanza but a string of saves from McDonald kept the surf-siders in the contest until the persistence was too much for City when Meaghan McElligott broke free and cooly rounded McDonald to tap home with an hour on the clock.

Once Souths broke the seal, there was no turning back as Ayesha Norrie fired home in the 63rd minute to give the home side a two goal cushion.

Ten minutes of madness ensued as Souths went into overdrive with a double from Deanna Thompson and a lovely solo goal from Terri-Amber Carlson providing a 5-0 lead with twenty minutes to play.

The Gold Coast wheels were well and truly off at this point and Souths were breaking in on goal at an alarming rate as Thompson collected her hat-trick for Souths’ sixth.

In the final ten minutes it was like a training exhibition for Souths as McElligott notched her second in an almost carbon copy of her first.

The scoring didn’t end there a second from substitute Norrie and McElligott’s hat-trick rounded off a win for the Runcorn-based club.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH – Deanna Thompson was the main instigator in the demolition bagging a brace and assisting on a number of occasions.